January 25.....mom's birthday and some guy who wrote..

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That’s sweetly play'd in tune.
....................................................
and this little ditty, Auld Lang Syne....
Robbie Burns....

PLAID!

Here's what the writer of ,Tartan: Romancing the Plaid  ,Jeffrey Banks said..."....means the instantly recognizable Burberry pattern on the company's coats and scarves may look like a tartan plaid, but is in fact officially just "a check" because Burberry is actually English. In addition, a tartan pattern has to be made up of perfect squares. Technically, a tartan plaid can be turned 180 degrees and is exactly the same.

"You can take it and literally turn it upside down and it will look exactly the same, right side up or upside down," De La Chappelle said. A Plaid, on the other hand, can have stripes that clearly run in a specific direction. In other words: all tartan is plaid, but not all plaid is tartan.

But whether authentic tartan or simply plaid, the stripes and squares seem to have a lasting and universal appeal"



Some Vintage Plaid for the men.... 

Sweet plaid for the vintage ladies....

Children's vintage little 60s plaid jumper....

Fashion Design the movie kind....

I follow movie costume designers like other people love movie stars! One of my favorites died this weekend. Miss Theoni Aldredge passed from this life. She designed the wardrobes for a wide range of movie genres proving her enormous talent...
a short list:
Addams Family Values, Annie, The Great Gatsby, Moonstruck, Ghostbusters, The Rose, Rich and Famous, Semi-Tough, Network....

a few of her creations...Yes, the penultimate goth comedy...Addams Family Values....

The steampunkian Victoriana Charles Addams drew...translated in the second movie about my favorite fake family....

And look...the contrast is striking eh? The dark Wednesday in her turn-of-the-century inspired bathing costume contrasts very well with the sappy happy middle class "normal" girls in orange. Even if you don't know the story, you get it just with costume design.
And of course, Wednesday explains American History, Addams Family style.......

The Great Gatsby...aw...the 20s...Miss Aldredge won the Oscar for this magnificent effort. It set off a fad for 20s style clothing in fashion during the mid 1970s. (with a bit of help from some guy named Ralph Lauren)

Annie !
this bit has Carol Burnette, Bernadette Peters, and yes, that's Tim Curry.



here's a blurb from DePaul University Art Museum
" She received an Academy Award for The Great Gatsby in 1974, designed the original A Chorus Line costumes in 1975, as well as for Annie in 1977, 42nd Street in 1980, and La Cage Aux Folles in 1984. ...In 1984, she worked with Jane Fonda to develop more than 200 designs for the original line of Jane Fonda Workout Wear. She currently lives in New York City. "

Theoni Aldredge, I loved your work. thanks for all the Dreams!

the vintage Home Decor...

...and just as you have suspected, I have a lot to offer......
here's a sneak peak of what's coming to the etsy store...
and Heads up, soon, on my funkomavintage  website, I'll be offering New. New things I find in my vintage travels....like...Margaret O'Leary sweaters, and all manner of things that aren't vintage...but totally with the funkoma look.....which is?
Which is rustic, classic, heritage, nautical, antique, midcentury, steampunk, romantic...tarnished and tattered....and just generally clever.

1929 cast aluminum The End of The Trail Mission bookends.

Mission style, Arts and Crafts, Craftsman and Prairie style art, architecture and home decor all are influenced by each other , and have a lot of similarities. They all celebrate handmade, handforged, hand-assembled and handcrafted as a political rejection of industrialization.


With the rise of mass production in the middle of the nineteenth century, with the filthy factories and mind-numbing inhuman work conditions that stole families from their rural lives, many philosophers, intellectuals, poets, writers, artists, craftmen, witches and healers decried the blossoming Capitalism.

William Morris, John Ruskin, Rosseau, Oscar Wilde,  Gustav Stickley, Walter Crane, Rosamund Marriott-Watson, the Roycrofters, and so many more challenged the "profit over people" ideology that is Capitalism. They knew that without beauty, without art, without leisure, without respect for the working man and woman, life is banal and brutal.

It is these thinkers that inspired the back to the earth movement of those times, and the bohemians of the 1920s, the union movement, the grow-your-own, the beatniks, and the hippies....
Young people that think they might have invented Handmade, like on etsy, are so funny!
It is those historical bohemians, that coalesced into an identifiable movement almost 200 years ago in reaction to the destruction of the slow and small lives that most humans had led since time began.
The Slow Food, artists lofts, handmade, farmer's markets, buy local, think small, and the support small business ethos began 20 decades ago, and for the same reasons it still resonates and has become popular again, and again.

I could go on for pages and pages...on this era of design and philosophy.....and I think I shall ! It's my favorite ....from the mid-Victorian through the 1970s.....but especially from 1890 to 1939.

Aluminum history...... 
The history of "The End of The Trail"....

 American-born artist James Earle Fraser, sculpted The End of the Trail for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California.
Placed in the Court of Palms at the entrance to the Expo. Fraser’s statue was a fantastic success and he was awarded the gold medal for sculpture. It entered the public mind and many reproductions, and near-repros followed for decades.

Of course, America's greatest export has always been the romantic Wild West! The Indian's life has been changed forever with the movement west. Long gone were the open ranges and they were relegated to reservations and shipped to cruel city environments.
 

The End of the Trail created a desire for more sculptures to be cast in bronze, but the United States entered into World War I, and bronze became very scarce. Many artifacts from the Exposition, such as plaster sculptures were tossed into a mud pit at Marina Park.

A few years later, the citizens of Tulare County, California, rescued The End of Trail in 1919 and placed it at Mooney Grove Park, near Visalia, California. In 1968 it was finally cast in bronze, and the cast sculpture was placed back in Mooney Grove Park.

The beatnik...

and the Paint By Numbers made in "spare time"....

Mrs. Parker

Constant use had not worn ragged the fabric of their friendship.

if all I had to do..
if all I wanted to do..
all day,
I'd read and quote Dorothy Parker.

I finished this embellished broken pin.....it had lost 2 of its pink rhinestones, and that left just the holes in the brass stamping......
so a hole must be filled, and I filled it in with brass loops from which I hung brass chains....which is so me..
if it's droopy and falling....I love it.
I hope you do too.

on etsy, thatyountvillegirl......
 It's Queenly.....
a Brass heraldic shape, white enamel, and a brass key......all with patina.
The locket is also enameled with white, and a tiny rose with green leaves...and an oval pearly bead.

Mrs. Parker....
from PoemHunter.........
Born in 1893,  at 23 years old  in "1916, Parker sold some of her poetry to the editor of Vogue, and was given an editorial position on the magazine. In 1917 she married Edwin Pond Parker II, a stockbroker, whom she later divorced. Edwin was wounded in World War I, he was an alcoholic, and during the war he became addicted to morphine.

From 1917 to 1920 Parker worked for Vanity Fair. With two other writers Robert Benchley and Robert Sherwood, Parker formed the nucleus of the Algonquin Round Table, an informal luncheon club held at New York City's Algonquin Hotel on Forty-Fourth Street.
Other members included Ring Lardner and James Thurber. Parker was usually the only woman in the group."

"Alan Rudolph's film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott, Matthew Broderick, depicted the life of the author and her friends around the famous Algonquin Round Table."

Surprise ! the 20s mostly.....

Adorn yrself....and be Charmed, I'm sure

So I'm back to putting it all together.....
I pick up little charms, bags of one lost earring...bags of broken jewelry, and all manner of beads, things, tinies, and what-have-you........
all for making jewelry...
Chains and keys.....especially .....and I love 50s earrings because the beads are so pretty....lots of Czech glass and lots of crystal beads.
I bought some lead-free trinkets and fixings too......I hate to say I told you so...(no, I don't) about that cheap Chinese crap......
So...
From trusted merchants I bought a few new findings and charms..but I am really only interested in making new from the old.....
The world is so full of magical things...we should all be as happy as kings.......or queens.RLS


Angel wings are pretty common in handmade jewelry right now and I couldn't resist buying a pair. I love little boxes, little lockets, and tiny cases........
Mark soldered the wings to the back of this shadow box......I love the way it "carmelized" it....and I love how it isn't glued together...nothing wrong with glue (I'll use a lot of that!)......
the Ruin of it........decay and used are themes that run through all my art.


Shadow box buddha necklace

Vintaged patina with heavenly wings, a locket box with a free swinging buddha charm......We can muse about...the freedom of flying, of floating free, with the key to unlock it all.

Suspended from a vintage chain, this hand-soldered box is attached to wings, and holds a buddha.

Faceted rosary beads, silver rings and weighted with an antique barrel skeleton key.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
100% copyright, design, writing and images....
these are one of a kind necklaces I make from the random tiny things in my jewelers drawer...so each is quite unique...


Jungle Safari......Victorian Safari.....shoot the animals with a camera ......not a gun.

Sparkle Tiger!

Metal tiger charm necklace with a sparkle star. Simple....

The lion is king....here he's hanging with a tiny brass oval locket.....and an old brass key......

Hey Harris, you're Scotch!

I finished the second Harris Tweed purse..tote bag. finally. stupid holidays!

Now that all the frivolity is out of the way...I'm back to sewing and general trouble making. The normal.

A fine collaboration combining  funkomavintage and thatyountville girl...........
This is another of my commitment to living the Vintage Life. To re-use and recycle. To spread the gospel of Heritage, of Quality, of more natural fibers, and to honor small industry like The Harris Tweed industry.

I can't decide if the lacy side or the pocket side is the front. Oh well. I'll leave that up to the owners...the lucky giftees, and the lucky buyer.  I love the lace and the tweed together....Very Miss Marple, no?

I had to add fabric to make it measure 16" across....that way it is roomy enough to hold an iPad or Kindle, whatever they are.

Look! the pocket is a pocket.

Inside, the lining is a strong cotton upholstery fabric in an old-fashioned floral. It buttons closed with a little flap...Oh did I mention that the button is one of the 2 original buttons that used to close the Jacket? well, yes.

I really agonized over "What to do about including a Harris Tweed label?"
Well, I have a printing press...so I just duplicated the original label and sewed a copy on the bag.
I was Mortified! when I first cut the jackets crosswise across the middles. aarrgggh!

I learned a lot while designing them and making them, and the next ones will be only slightly different. 

Clicky here to go see it at  thatyountvillegirl on etsy.

A short history of Harris Tweed......


from good ol' wikipedia....
Harris Tweed (Clò Mór or Clò na Hearadh in Gaelic) is a luxury cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders on the Isles of Harris, Lewis, Uist and Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, using local wool.

Traditional Harris Tweed was characterized by subtle flecks of colour achieved through the use of vegetable dyes, including the lichen dyes called "crottle" (Parmelia saxatilis and Parmelia omphalodes which give deep red- or purple-brown and rusty orange respectively). These lichens are the origin of the distinctive scent of older Harris Tweed.

About 1830, a London merchant received a letter from a Hawick firm about some tweels. The London merchant misinterpreted the handwriting, understanding it to be a trade-name taken from the river Tweed that flows through the Scottish Borders textile area. Subsequently the goods were advertised as Tweed, and the name has remained ever since.

With the industrial revolution the Scottish mainland turned to mechanisation, but the Outer Hebrides retained their traditional processes of manufacturing cloth. Until the middle of the 19th century the cloth was only produced for personal use within the local market. It was not until between 1903 and 1906 that the tweed-making industry in Lewis significantly expanded. Production increased until the peak figure of 7.6 million yards was reached in 1966. However the Harris Tweed industry declined along with textile industries in the rest of Europe. Harris Tweed has survived because of its distinctive quality and the fact that it is protected by an act of Parliament limiting the use of the Sovereign's Orb trademark to tweeds made in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.



Here's the one I made the MIL......

Oh yes, there will be many many more to come...from vintage jackets. I've got designs drawn for making a smaller purse or tiny tote, and another style of jacket from the left overs.
I adore this fabric...and I can't let any go to waste. ...so even the scraps will become flowers and leaves.

Click here for a gorgeous Harris Tweed site...lots more info....and a pop-up map that takes you from outer space and slowly pans down to the tiny little islands of wooly paradise.
I  Love It!!

Geraldine Page is the lady

One of my favorite actresses was Miss Geraldine. I loved her substantial manner, the fleeting twin-depths of happy and sad that shone thru her face...as if her skin were made of clouds.
She won the Oscar when she was 60, for Best Actress, in a movie that's been on my mind lately....

She was not a traditional beauty...she wasn't tall, skinny, buxom and blonde... she wasn't the belle of the ball. Born in 1924, she had an intelligence and kindness. There was nothing haughty about her style. She wasn't a Katharine Hepburn, nor a snap-meister like Myrna Loy.
And this is why I loved her.
I fancied my self a lot like her. Plain. Sincere. Often, the last in line.

Here's what it says on the IMDB page:

"Considered by many to be one of the greatest American actresses of all time, Geraldine Page was a master craftswoman who seemed to bring out the most inner detail of the character she was playing. Her dedication to her craft has earned her the respect of many of today's great actors including Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer."

I first noticed her in Hondo, a 1954 John Wayne western movie (of course)... I am an unapologetic cowgirl. Hondo is chock full of rampant sexism and racism, but that's the '50s.

And then the stunning Tennessee Williams play, made into a movie in 1962, Sweet Bird of Youth, where Miss Page plays a "...temperamental and drunken Alexandra Del Lago, a once great movie actress whose star has since faded."

Here's the offical trailer for that movie......



Oh and please notice the 2 men in the movie....Paul Newman and Rip Torn.
Rip Torn ...another favorite actor, and married to Miss Page.

She thought of herself as an actress of the stage and said this:

"I didn't want to be a Hollywood actress who every so often does a Broadway play. I wanted to be a Broadway actress who every so often does a movie."

But the movie that is on my mind a lot ...I fell in love the first time I saw it, is
The Trip to Bountiful.
Described as "In 1985, she starred in the independent film "The Trip To Bountiful." Based on Horton Foote's play, it tells the story of a 60 year old woman who yearns to run away from her cramped city apartment that she shares with her son and daughter -in-law, to see the old country town where she grew up."
It was written by Horton Foote, who also wrote the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird.

I remember thinking back in '85, that gee...she looks old! but she was only 60! and she played a 60 year old woman living in the 1940s, during war time. The clothes undoubtedly helped to make her look 95!
It's a bittersweet story, and I wasn't thrilled with living in Washington. So, I figured it wasn't odd to want to go back home when you reach a certain age very late in life.
unfinished business.
to see how much things have changed.
to see people and sit and think about old times.
...>Nostalgia<... Geraldine Page won the Oscar for Best Actress for that 1985 movie in 1986.

She died only 2 years later on June 13, 1987.

The 40s fashions were practical mostly,  and the daily dress was very simple with cute details made of "eXtra" fabric left over from cutting out the pattern....but special occasion clothes were quite glamorous. War time rationing limited the amount of fabric that could be used in daily clothes. Restrictions were different for fancy clothes.
From a darling web page with lots of nifty pictures, The American Historical Society: "Uncle Sam last week assumed the role of fashion designer. Sweeping restrictions aim to save 15 percent of the yardage now used on women's and girls' apparel through such measures as restricting hems and belts to two inches, eliminating cuffs on sleeves. Exempt categories include bridal gowns, maternity dresses, vestments for religious orders. - Life Magazine, April 20, 1942"

from etsy seller, NodtoModvintage, is this 40s darling dotty dress. It's 42" long, because that's what the War Ration board mandated.

Fancy clothes... were made of fabrics that the troops would not be needing...velvet, sequins, & beads were allowed, but no silk...that was needed for The War. Since most silk came from Japan, er, uh, you can see why silk was very restricted.  This silk restriction led to the popularity of nylon...the Silk Alternative! and even that was scarce until after the war. Stockings were often made of rayon or wool, and cotton. Make-up for the legs, with a long dark line drawn down the back calf, to mimic a stocking seam was common, as the ladies waited and waited for nylon to come back to stockings after the war.

Here's a typical little 40s wartime day dress in green gingham from etsy seller, KittysVintageKitsch.

and let's show Miss Edith Head ...fiddling with a 1944 dress for the movies.